The Tallinn University of Technology, the Estonian University of Life Sciences, and Tallinn University have announced that they will reduce the number of students they will admit to the next academic year. The decision is based on the decreasing number of secondary school graduates.

Prorector of education of the Tallinn University of Technology, Jakob Kübarsepp, explained to ERR’s Aktuaalne kaamera newscast on Tuesday that the current secondary school graduates were born in a time when the birth rate was low, and with the resulting lower number of students, the universities are reducing the number they will accept on graduate studies.

Another reason for the change was that a lot of Estonian students were now going abroad for their education, Kübarsepp added.

“We’ve conducted curriculum reforms on the first level of higher education, we’re reducing the number of university places by a third,” Kübarsepp said, adding that in the case of post-graduate courses the university hadn’t had too many places it couldn’t fill.

Tallinn University is reducing the number of graduate places while at the same time increasing the number of post-graduates it will accept. The Estonian University of Life Sciences is planning to reduce the number of places on both levels.

“On one hand this is a reaction to what is happening in society, that there are fewer candidates with a secondary education entering university. And on the other hand there is the wish to increase competition to a certain extent as well. If there are fewer university places, the competition is stronger, and from this we’re hoping to get better candidates, more motivated candidates,” education specialist at the University of Life Sciences, Eda Aitsen, told Aktuaalne kaamera.

The University of Tartu is the only one of the four Estonian universities that isn’t planning to reduce the number of admissions. The school commented that last year’s admission on the whole was successful, and that the number of places for post-graduate students had already increased with the introduction of international courses.